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Sunday, 11 April 2010

GREETINGS from amid the paintbrushes! I grow industiouser and industriouser this month, with many lovely commissions to complete and work to prepare for exhibitions hither and thither. There doesn't seem to be quite enough time to get it all done, but deadlines always add the extra nudge of fear necessary for this particular last minute artist to complete her work on time.There's something about April it seems which makes us get out our dusting cloths and our mouldering motivations and fling all that thought it could still crouch by the winter fire out onto the sunny doorstep and into spring busyness.

March madness and the whiff of Wonderland about has meant that many Alice-themed things have been going on of late. I am delighted to announce that I will be contributing this just-completed Mad Hatter Clock to an Alice In Wonderland exhibition beginning on April the 18th at the wonder-ful Imagine Gallery in Suffolk where I exhibited work last year. My clock will be in excellent company indeed, as it is to be sharing wall space with my friend the immensely talented artist/paper automata maker Lindsey Carr, and the writer/illustrator extraordinaire Jackie Morris who also happens to own one of my early Once Upon O'Clocks. There will be ceramics, masks, paintings, photography, Arthur Rackham and Mabel Lucie Attwell prints and goodness-know-what-else. But I am most excited of all that John Foley the gallery owner has managed to procure for our delight the actual original seven-years-in-the-making Alice In Wonderland painting by Bulgarian illustrator Iassen Ghiuselev, whose book I wrote about some time ago. I can't wait to peer at the brush strokes and marvel up close at his Bruegel/Escher-like gouache-on-wood Wonderland.

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Anyway, here for those of you who can't make it to Suffolk, is The Mad Hatter Clock. He peers with more than a hint of lunacy into his cup of tea. And in the tea his own gravestone-toothed grin is reflected back at him past the ticking hands of a backwards-clock. And all around, against a checkerboard background wind words from the tale:

"If you knew Time as well as I do", said the Hatter,"you wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's him."

The Number 13, an escapee from the clock face perhaps, sits in place of the usual 10/6 hat price.This is larger than my clocks usually are, though not as large as last year's. I don't know what the wood is, it was kindly sent to me in the post by my friend Sarah.Hollowing out the backs of these clocks has become a blister-inducing job and a half, and takes even longer when the clock spindle is shorter (as is the case with reverse movements). And so I was very pleased with these drill attachments (picture below, top right), a birthday gift from my brother. Forstner bits they're called, they drill flat bottomed holes and make my clockmaking life much easier!Here below are some snippets from the clockmaking and painting progress, do click to enlarge:

Wonderland lends itself to oddness in perspective I think, and I enjoyed playing with strange proportions, diminishing words and slightly untrue checks to add to the sense of nuttiness.

And here it is finished, on a sunny afternoon bench, ticking away the hours:

(do click to enlarge)

You may notice the first instance of a second hand in one of my Once Upon O'Clocks, which I like very much.. it is nice to see it moving anticlockwise around the Hatter's cuppa.

Here are a few more close-ups of the distressed paint surface ...

(do click to enlarge)

And a mad green stare...

As well as exhibitions, with spring come fairs.. May fairs and Wood fairs. Over there on the right (up a bit... yes, there) ---> I have pinned a few fliers for the Things My Work Will Be At over the next month or two, so do come along if you are in the areas.

And so I return to the painting table, where numerous pieces of primed hardboard, hand milled watercolour paper and wood await me... Time is Ticking! But which way?

Love this mad hatter clock. Time seems to be spinning to quickly into the future, perhaps I should buy this backward clock to make it slow down a bit...does it work that way?Wishing you much good fortune with all of your gallery exhibits and festivals and fairs. Wish that I were close by so that I could come and see your lovely work up close. So happy that you are busy with lots of work to do and enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

More magic and what a wonderful image! I love the look of it, the feel of it, but most of all I love the backwards concept of time not in reverse, just doing what Einstein would have enjoyed without a doubt. It is absolutely stunning. Then again, all of your works are. We simply treasured our clock from the moment we opened the parcel and still take time to be in awe of the details when we hold it. Be well, take care of yourself, and enjoy Spring.

Wonderful clock, the way the Mad Hatter's one little curl stands out like that. I like the idea of the 13 running away from the clock face. An extra hour that we might someday get back - if it will only come home. You are industrious and I'd better get busy too!

What a totally nutty, mad backwards clock! It's beautiful of course. My big son lives not that far from Long Melford. I'll give him the nod and I expect he'll come with his wife and 2 children! He's called Jason and is BIG!! I wish I was over at that time. Do you know how long the exhibition is on for??

Wonderful reinvention of the character, but still capturing the spirit of the original. I like the bird's eye perspective and the way he offers up time in his tea. So nicely done. Sorry that I am too much here to be there and will miss the exhibit. Hope it is a grand success.

Another wonderful clock Rima - the sense of 3D is marvellous and the way you play with scale. I love the lettering too. So glad your work is in such demand but not at all surprised. Don't work too hard will you? The Suffolk exhibition sounds very appealing and will attract lots of interest I'm sure.

Wonderful Rima, another masterpiece! If only I could get time to go backwards, just for a little...or at least a little slower! But I'd probably just spend all that extra time day-dreaming. I'm much better with a deadline too, I procrastinate too much without one!

My husband has an Einsteinian "time is relative" watch with only a few numbers around the rim: 2ish, 5ish, etc. You have topped his watch with your backwards-time clock! Perfect take on the wonderland story with the tea and that quote. You have an enchanted mind! xo Kari

It is always a thrill when I see "The Hermitage" in my inbox because it means a few moments of wonder and excitement at seeing what new and wonderful ideas are crossing your mind. The images stay with me all day when I've looked at your site, popping in and out of my day, adding magic and wonder to the ordinary. Thank you. Emily

A wonderous creation! A clock that can appear to be running backwards...I enjoy seeing what new thing that you are making when I see a new episode of "The Hermitage". It keeps me inspired to see your progress...good luck on your exhibition!

Such a shame that I won't be able to attend the exhibition, since I want to see your work personally. Anyway, I really love it! Especially the concept of your work, aesthetical at the same time functional. :)

Oh my lord! Your brilliance has no end. I come here to find inspiration and leave with a heart full of joy and my brain ready to explode from the wonder of these amazing creations. I am so affected by your art.

Like many others, I come here often and, for me, ironically,it is a place where time stands still, a beautiful window of creativity, inspiration and possibilities. This hatter slightly unnerved me until I saw his beautiful hands and sensitive fingers!

About Me

Rima Staines is an artist using paint, wood, word, music, animation, clock-making, puppetry & story to attempt to build a gate through the hedge that grows along the boundary between this world & that. Her gate-building has been a lifelong pursuit, & she hopes to have perhaps propped aside even one spiked loop of bramble (leaving a chink just big enough for a mud-kneeling, trusting eye to glimpse the beauty there beyond), before she goes through herself.

Always stubborn about living the things that make her heart sing, Rima’s houses have a tendency to be wheeled. She currently dwells in an old cottage on top of a hill on the edge of Dartmoor with her beloved, Tom, & their big-hearted, ice-eyed lurcher, Macha.

Rima’s inspirations include the world & language of folktale; faces of people who pass her on the street; folk music & art of Old Europe & beyond; peasant & nomadic living; magics of every feather; wilderness & plant-lore; the margins of thought, experience, community & spirituality; & the beauty in otherness.

Crumbs fall from Rima’s threadbare coat pockets as she travels, & can be found collected here, where you may join the caravan.